One of conventional systems for retrieving and delivering contents on a network is, for example, set forth in “A public image database with the aim of transmitting networked multimedia information: GIRLS” (IPSJ Technical Report, HI67-6, 1996). This system collects images scattered over the Internet, creates a database automatically, and retrieves desired images from the thus created database and delivers the images.
In this system, when the database is searched on the server side, images similar to user demand are retrieved based upon image features registered in the database, and at the user side, the images acquired as a result of the retrieval are browsed on PCs (Personal Computers), workstations and the like.
In the conventional system for retrieving and delivering contents configured in the above-described manner, since it is assumed that terminals that receive the contents acquired as a result of the retrieval are PCs, workstations and the like all interconnected over the Internet, which have nearly identical processing ability and therefore the contents acquired as a result of the retrieval are delivered only in a predefined format, it may have such problems that the contents acquired as a result of the retrieval may not be browsed easily through various different networks, or on various terminals each of which has different processing ability such as, for example, cellular phones, videophones, PCs and so on.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for retrieving and delivering contents that can deliver the contents and retrieval result lists acquired as a result of retrieval in appropriate various formats according to various terminals such as, for example, cellular phones, videophones, PCs (Personal Computers) and so on, each of which has different processing ability, by way of various networks such as telephone lines, wireless networks and so on.